You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Psalm 23:5.
Heavenly Father, thank You so much for taking care of us. Even in the midst of our enemies there is abundance! May we never wander away from You, because in You we have everything we need. In Jesus’ name we give You thanks! Amen.
Today we are looking at a passage of Scripture from one of the most read and best loved psalms – Psalm 23. What exactly was the psalmist saying that God had done for him by preparing a table “in the presence of his enemies”? Let us first look at the text in its original setting, and then compare it with what our Shepherd is doing for us today.
One marginal reading explains that the shepherd goes before the sheep uprooting all the poisonous plants to protect the sheep when they go grazing. He is doing this while the wild animals that are enemies of the sheep lie in wait all around, watching, but dare not come closer. How often God does the same for us.
If we could see behind the scenes we would be shocked to discover that we are surrounded by enemies of every kind imaginable. You do not have to do wrong to someone for them to become your enemy. You only have to do the right thing in a world of wrong doing, where people call wrong right and right wrong. That is enough to have people see you as an enemy.
In the midst of all of this God keeps watch over His own. He goes before us removing traps that lie in our path, and protects us from dangers both seen and unseen. He also blesses us in the presence of those who would not think twice to do us harm. How many of us can say in full assurance, “Had it not been for the Lord, I would not be here.”
At the end of the day, the shepherd takes His sheep in hand and carefully examines them for cuts and bruises. Then He gently anoints their wounds with oil. Have you experienced the anointing of the Lord lately? If you have not, perhaps you need to check and see if you have been forgetting to take everything “to God in prayer.”
“Do thy friends despise forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer. In His arms He’ll take and shield thee; thou wilt find a solace there” (Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, pg. 499).
Then the shepherd will offer his sheep water from his own cup to quench his thirst. Jesus offers us living waters to take away our thirst forever! When we have Him the waters just keep springing up within. What a Shepherd is ours!